Quivers herself won't be performing because she's been focusing on the real goal of the show, raising funds for her 15 Foundation.

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"I've been so busy with the nuts and bolts that I wouldn't have had time to put anything together," she says. "You don't realize how much is involved in something like this until you do it. I was talking with Rosie O'Donnell and she said she'd be happy to share her experiences with her foundation so we could avoid all the mistakes she made."

Not that Quivers is complaining. The 15 Foundation will channel Wednesday night's proceeds to New Jersey SEEDS, which helps high-potential high school girls from low-income families in Orange and Englewood navigate their way into college.

"It's about showing them what's possible," says Quivers. "Women who have gone through the SEEDS program talk about how they're living lives they never dreamed were possible, because they hadn't even known what was out there."

The 15 Foundation, which she founded last year with Brendan Murphy, complements her work with organizations like Big Sisters and the Girl Plan, which works with the UN to encourage education for women and girls in developing countries.

"If you think about the whole scope of problems like that, they're so big you wouldn't do anything," says Quivers. "So you start one person at a time. Change one person, you can change a village."

And yes, she still does run into people who wonder how all this fits with the less serious matters that make up some of Stern's radio show.

"I sometimes find people who are ... curious," she says. "They don't know quite what to expect. But after we talk for a while, they understand.

"The problem usually is not realizing the entertainment aspect of what we do on the radio - thinking that what they hear there must be all of what we are."

In any case, Quivers' life keeps getting busier. Besides the Foundation and her vocal advocacy on matters like healthier food and nutrition, she's putting together a proposal for a TV show mixing serious issues with entertainment.

"It's a juggling act," she says. "So far I've managed, but it's tricky - because at this point, I am my organization."

One other wild card, of course, is what happens after Stern's Sirius radio deal expires in December. That next move has fueled endless speculation, and when Quivers is asked about it, she just laughs.

Sort of like the crowd at Carolines will be laughing Wednesday night. That's at 7 at 1626 Broadway; (212) 757-4100.